The Trump administration is rolling back 31 climate and environmental regulations, weakening greenhouse gas emission limits for power plants and vehicles.
The Trump administration has taken its first major step in dismantling U.S. climate and environmental policies with a wave of announcements. A total of 31 regulations – many of them critical – are set to be repealed or weakened, benefiting the coal industry and major polluters.
Major Rollbacks on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Water Protection
Restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, including coal-fired facilities. Limits on vehicle emissions, including heavy-duty transport. Regulations safeguarding water quality. These are just a few of the key protections that were wiped out on March 12, as the Trump administration overturned fundamental environmental and climate policies in the United States.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the elimination of more than 30 environmental regulations in one of the administration’s most aggressive moves yet to reshape America’s climate commitments. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called it the “Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History.”
Greenhouse Gas Emissions? ‘Not a Public Health Threat’
While President Trump once advised Elon Musk to take a more surgical approach rather than using a sledgehammer, that message doesn’t seem to have reached the EPA.
The agency is now targeting long-standing environmental policies, starting with the legal recognition that greenhouse gas emissions pose a public health threat. This designation has been the foundation of U.S. climate policy – without it, other measures and international commitments become vulnerable to repeal.
Additional regulations slated for repeal or major revision favor coal, oil, gas, and manufacturing industries, under the stated goal of boosting energy production and economic growth – at the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Among the most significant rollbacks is the removal of emission limits on pollutants such as mercury and particulate matter from coal-fired power plants, the most polluting fossil fuel source.
Water Protections and Vehicle Emissions in the Crosshairs
Zeldin also announced revisions to the definition of protected waterways under the Clean Water Act, a cornerstone of U.S. environmental protection. By easing these restrictions, the administration will allow increased pollution from agricultural runoff, mining operations, and the petrochemical industry.
The transportation sector is another target of deregulation. The EPA will roll back emission standards for both heavy- and light-duty vehicles starting in 2027, undoing a key policy introduced by the Biden administration to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.
